Welcome to Ryan Buyting's Biology Wikispace! Personal Post #10: Disinfecting Crystals (Spin-off Post) Currently I am in chemistry and biology, so I figured why not combine the two? I was very interested to learn more about the "disinfecting crystals" that the decon team used when sterilizing the Reston building, so I did some research and this is what I found: Because the book did not state exactly what type of crystals they used, I had to take a guess and assume they used the most common type of disinfecting crystals, iodine crystals (seen to the right). However, in the book, they described the crystals to be small, white crystals that resembled salt. For this reason, I think it may have been chlorine crystals which are illegal. I did find its structure (seen below). Chlorine gas is what was used in the first world war, but since the decon team were military, they could have been able to get ahold of some. Regardless, both elements are halogens and therefore act the same way, chlorine is just more toxic. As my chemistry teacher always says, everything in chemistry is about concentration. This meaning, normally, these crystals are not bad for us at all, let alone deadly. In fact, these crystals are used for a lot of good; they are a very popular water purifier and it is often fed to farm animals to maintain good nutrition. However, when iodine crystals are heated they release a toxic, purple gas. If you have a large amount of this gas in an enclosed area it is deadly. Any living organism exposed to the fumes for more than a few minutes will be killed. And when I say living organism, I mean anything, even down to a bacterial level. So as you can imagine, when the decon team loaded up thirty-nine hot plates full of this stuff and then heated them in an air-tight building, everything would have been obliterated. Because these crystals have the potential to do so much damage, yet they have positive benefits as well, governments are really controversial when it comes to the sale of them. The biggest reason they regulate the sale is because iodine crystals can be converted or used in the production of methamphetamine, as well as its life threatening gas form. I can confidently say I have fulfilled my curiosity within this post. I am now educated on the use of lethal gas for beneficial purposes and I hope all of you readers are as well. Citations:Article 1: Advameg Inc. (2012). Iodine. Retrieved from http://www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/C-K/Iodine.htmlPhoto 1: (n.d.). Iodine crystals. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.alternativevet.org/images/Iodine crystals [Iodum].jpgPhoto 2: (n.d.). Crystal structure image. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.webelements.com/_media/elements/crystal_structure_image/Cl-sf.jpg Personal Post #9: Necrotizing Fasciitis What is it?Also known as the "flesh eating disease", necrotizing fasciitis is an extremely painful, bacterial infection that spreads rapidly around a hosts' body and literally eats their flesh. Symptoms?Necrotizing fasciitis can start from a small cut or it may follow up a diseases such as chickenpox. It begins as a small rash around the original cut and soon expands and begins to devour all the flesh around it leaving nothing but the underlying muscle. If not treated properly, it can cause death within 18 hours from the time of infection. How it works?This disease is caused by group A streptococcus bacteria. Surprisingly, these bacteria are found in the nose, throat and on the skin of healthy people. Although in most cases they are good for us, these bacteria can cause numerous infections, one of which being necrotizing fasciitis. Scientists do not know why these bacteria sometimes "go bad" and create flesh eating toxins, but they do on very rare occasions. SpreadingOnce these bacteria have begun to create the flesh eating toxins they are able to spread from person to person. Normally it is from close, personal contact with an infected being. Treatment Because this disease is a bacterial infection, antibiotics are usually the first method. However, necrotizing fasciitis normally will cut off the blood supply to the infected area, so the antibiotics that are in the blood stream will sometimes not make it to the infected area. Therefore, doctors often resort to surgery to remove all of the infected tissue. PreventionThe best way to prevent yourself from getting this rare disease is to never neglect a tiny cut. Always ensure any open flesh wounds are properly covered so you can prevent any bacteria from getting in. Also, if you notice any necrotizing fasciitis symptoms, be sure to see a doctor right away because like I said, this infection travels throughout the body very, very quickly. Citations:Article: HealthLink BC. (2012, February). Necrotizing fasciitis. Retrieved from http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile60.stmPhoto 1: (n.d.). face. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://microbiology2009.wikispaces.com/file/view/face.jpgPhoto 2: (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.webanswers.com/post-images/A/AF/260D5141-D2AE-4CC8-AA1CF2E1E7F8FBDA.jpg Homework Post #7: The Hot Zone | Part Four In the final section of this book, Preston stops talking about what had happened with the outbreak, and begins talking about his personal trip to learn more about it. Preston and his colleagues traveled to Kitum Cave, ground zero for the Ebola outbreak. Although Preston is not a scientist, he approached the cave as if he was. He took all the necessary gear and began to explore the cave for signs of life and possible Ebola carriers. Once Preston had seen enough and had recorded his thoughts about the cave, he wanted to compare the life there, to the now "Ebola free" Reston building. Preston traveled to the factory and learned that the building was for sale and had yet to get a new owner. He was able to look into the windows and get a feel for the place. He was able to see small insects and other signs of life which, I personally was surprised to read, but Preston thought differently. Finally, Preston states that he believed the virus would be back. With all the life he saw in Kitum Cave and the Reston building, he stated it was almost inevitable to happen. As I said above, the most surprising part for me in this section was the fact that he had found life in the Reston building. Thinking about it now, I don't recall Preston saying anything about the clean up team removing any of the tape around the windows or doors, which leads me to wonder how any life could have made its way into the building. I also don't understand why Preston was so sure there would be a outbreak coming from the Reston building because the clean up team did such an amazing job and they were able to kill of the bacteria cultures. I mean, they wouldn't have deemed it Ebola free if they weren't one hundred percent sure about it. For that reason, I disagree with Preston for saying that there would be any Ebola coming from Reston, however, there most certainly is Ebola in Kitum Cave. Citations:None. Personal Post #8: Capsule Colonoscopy A colonoscopy is a procedure that allows doctors to examine a colon to check for numerous different things but most often colon cancer. In years past, doctors would choose one of two methods: either they would put a stretcher up someones anus, while they were sedated, and then examine the colon via an MRI, or they would go down someones throat with a light and a small camera andthe colon that way (which also requires sedation). As you can imagine, these methods are very uncomfortable for the patient once they wake up and they require medication to cope with the affects these methods have on their digestive path. With today's science, doctors and scientists have developed a "colonoscopy capsule". The capsule is about 20mm in length (seen to the right), that has a clear end with a camera facing out, and a small harddrive on the other end. The patient will swallow the capsule with no discomfort at all and allow the capsule to travel through their bowel and out of their body in their feces. As the capsule makes it's way through the body, it will take a video which doctors will be able to transfer onto a computer for viewing an examination of the bowel and colon. I did this post because I thought it was extremely neat and a very cool, technologically advanced procedure in the medical field. To the right I have included an actual video that was captured from a colonoscopy capsule.
Personal Post #7: Singultus Hiccups are technically called singultus, but their technical name is rarely used. Hiccups are in fact called hiccups, simply because of the noise you make when you have them. Anyways, I am here to tell you why you get them and how you can get rid of them. Hiccups can be caused by an abundance of things which include:
Spicy foods
Alcohol
Shortage of carbon dioxide
Diseases that irritate the diaphragm
Strokes
Brain Tumors
These are just a few of many different ways you can get hiccups. However, the most common reason you get hiccups, is ironically no reason at all. Many people will simply get hiccups because of a twitch that emerges in the diaphragm muscles and continues. This twitch, or contraction causes air to be sucked into our lungs extremely fast which causes the "hic" sound, and then when the muscles relax we release air, thus causing the "cup" noise.
Hiccups can be very annoying, so overtime we have developed methods that seem to work in getting rid of them. A few of them are listed below:
Chugging water
Holding your breath
Breathing in and out of a paper bag
Being startled
Eating a spoonful of sugar
Tickling the back of the throat to stimulate the gag reflex
Eating a spoonful of peanut butter
These methods are all just placebos. They are not actually doing anything to relax the diaphragm muscles, but they do distract your mind from thinking about them which causes your diaphragm muscles to relax and stop your hiccuping.
Citations: Article 1:Why do you hiccup?. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.essortment.com/hiccup-62473.html Photo: (2010). Retrieved from http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/04/article-1317502-0B76AAEA000005DC-873_468x489.jpg Homework Post #6: The Hot Zone | Part Three The third section of this book continues talking about the Reston situation. It begins with Jerry Jaax and his team getting word of the Reston outbreak and them packing up and heading to Washington. When they arrive in Reston they set up all their gear and begin to create a game plan on how they want to go about neutralizing all the monkeys. The leaders decided that they would give each monkey a needle that would put them to sleep, then extract blood and perform some tests, and then would finish up by giving each monkey a lethal injection that would kill them. The operation had to be done quickly and they had to be sure to not draw any media attention. The task was completed perfectly. Jerry Jaax and his team entered the building early one morning, suited up in their space suits, and got the job done in a matter of hours. All the dead monkeys' were sterilized, bagged, sterilized, bagged, and then sterilized again. They were now able to bring each of the monkey's out to be incinerated and the clean up team was able to move in. The clean up team did an amazing job as well. They entered the building and began spraying disinfectants on anything and everything they could. They had people scrubbing every surface in the building until there was no blood to be found. They finished off by sealing off all openings and setting up hot plates. On each hot plate they placed a crystal. When they gave power to the building, the crystals cooked and released a gas into the now air-tight building. They allowed the gas to sit in the building for three days as it got into every "nook and cranny" in the building. Within the building, the team had placed cultures of microorganisms that were apparently extremely hard to kill. After the three days the team went in and observed that the microorganisms had all been killed, therefore they concluded that there was no possible way that the Ebola virus could still be present within the building. The building had been determined safe for human life again. The coolest part out of this section to me was by far the sterilization process. I found it extremely ingenious the way they went about it and it was a joy to read. I was intrigued specifically with the hot plate and crystal method as well as the way they made the building air tight. Citations:None. Homework Post #5: The Hot Zone | Part Two The second part to this book is titled "The Monkey House". By reading this it is clear that this section is in fact about monkeys; more specifically, a monkey storage/ shipping facility located in Reston, Virginia. At this location, monkeys' are imported from outside of the country and then shipped across the United States to different laboratories. Everything seemed to run smoothly until Dan Dalgard, a worker at the facility, notices that some of the monkeys' are beginning to show abnormal behavior. Worried it might be something serious, Dalgard ships a portion of monkey meat to a military lab for research. He was right; it was something worse, a virus (later named "The Reston Virus"). Before retrieving these results, Dalgard and his coworkers saw the effects this virus was having on these monkeys' first hand. Monkeys' were dying as the days went on and the company was losing too much money. When the military had concluded it was a virus causing the deaths, they injected there scientists into the facility and the company owners were happy to welcome them in. Everyone wanted to find out where this virus had came from, including the Pentagon. From here, the book failed to conclude what actually became of this virus, was it contained and eliminated? Did it spread, killing more monkeys' worldwide? These are questions it did not answer. As most of my other classmates have pointed out, the most surprising, yet confusing part of this section was when it randomly talked about Jerry Jaax (character introduced earlier in the book) brother's death for three pages. I have no personal explanation for why the author might have done this. It was completely random and I would be very interested to know what the author put it there for. It would make sense had his brother been introduced earlier or maybe if his brother had some other connection to the topics in this story; but he didn't, which leaves me questioning. Citations:None. Homework Post #4: The Hot Zone | Part One The author, Richard Preston, begins The Hot Zone by introducing the first character, Charles Monet. Charles Monet works in Africa and decided to take a weekend trip to Mount Elgon where he visits Kitum Cave. While there, scientists have concluded that he was infected with the Ebola virus; the exact way in which he received it is uncertain. He begins to feel symptoms of this so he has been flown to the Nairobi Hospital. While on the flight Charles has a horrible experience with vomito negro; he begins throwing up this nasty looking, thick red/black vomit. Monet arrives at the hospital in rough shape, but still alive. Shortly after waiting in the waiting room the virus climaxes and Monet bleeds out on the floor. Dr. Musoke was the first on the scene and in an attempt to save Monet's life, Musoke contracted the virus. He experienced all the same symptoms Monet did; the difference being that Musoke managed to live. After elaborating more about Ebola and Marburg, Preston begins telling the story about Major Nancy Jaax. Jaax and her husband work for the military in a level 4 biohazard veterinarian lab. Preston explains the story of how Jaax nearly contracted the virus while working in the lab. Next, Preston talks how a man named Gene Johnson and his team visited the same cave in which Monet contracted the virus in hopes of finding the virus in its natural habitat. They tested a number of animals but sadly could not find any strains of the virus. The biggest "woah" moment I had when reading this section was when Preston went into great detail about the vomito negro incident on the plane and the climax of the virus within Monet in the hospital. I am not a big reader at all but when reading those parts I was literally "on the edge of my seat". I found the inner workings of the virus and the effects on the body both extremely interesting and very shocking. Citations:Photo:(n.d.). Hotzone. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://amateurbrilliance.com/pictures/hotzone.gif Homework Post #3: Stem Cell Research Personal Opinion Before you read this I would like you to know I am not intending to offend anyone with the following information. These are just my personal beliefs having been raised by a doctor and wanting to go into the medical field myself. In my opinion I think it is quite ridiculous that someone would rather have their already extracted zygotes thrown out. Because they are being killed anyway, why not put them to use? It's as simple as that to me. If we were able to use these zygotes we would most likely be able to supply enough stem cells for research that we would not need to use any other methods. In a sense its like "killing two birds with one stone"; donors get to see their precious zygotes being put to good use and researchers don't have to do much work to get the stem cells that they need to research. Even with all the laws we have in place currently involving stem cells, we have still managed to discover and learn so much about them. If I'm not mistaken, researchers already have all the information and tools to cure many diseases. I think that knowing that, governments are out of their mind to not raise the bans on stem cells and allow their citizens to begin receiving these life changing treatments. Government money should be used in moderation to fund stem cell research. Despite the fact that some people will disagree with this, I feel a lot more good will come of it than bad. The full potential of stem cells is still unknown, but even with the little knowledge we have about them, we already know that the possibilities they have are incredible. For example, if someone was waiting on a giant list for a kidney transplant, instead of waiting for years and years, we would be able to grow a new kidney and insert it in the patient. I think if a prime minister was willing to do that for all people needing transplants and other medical procedures that he would get majority of the votes because that offer would make so many people happy. As far as government regulation, I don't have much of an opinion. I feel that as long as the people that need to be cured are, thats all that matters. I the government wants to put bans and limits on things that would most likely result in people being deprived of treatment which I disagree with. Obviously things like: professionals only can handle them, licenses required to preform procedures, etc. are all things that I think should be put in place because it would just be stupid to let the public have free use of stem cells. If that were to happen their would be clones running around every where and that is definitely not a good thing. In conclusion, their are many obvious rules that should be in place but I disagree with having limits on different things regarding stem cells. If stem cell research are transplants were allowed, I think the use of adult stem cells should be limited. Adult stem cells should only be used if needed. For example, if someone were in need of a transplant, we should be allowed to take the adult stem cells to create that specific organ. But if someone wanted a body part made, but did not actually need it, they should have to pay a price to the government for the embryonic stem cells and they would have to donate the adult stem cells. As mentioned above, therapeutic cloning is currently the most useful method of using stem cells. That is basically what all doctors want to be allowed to do. Because we already know how to do it, that is the one major ban we want lifted: the use of stem cells to create organs, tissues, etc. Citations:Ryan Buyting
Personal Post #6: Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia What is it? Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia or better known as a "brain freeze", is something we have most likely all experienced. It is that sharp, painful feeling we get in our forehead when we eat or drink something cold. In greater detail, a brain freeze occurs when the tissues at the "roof" of our mouthes quickly drop in temperature. When this happens, the blood vessels in those tissues swell up in an effort to warm that area back up to a regular temperature, when the vessels swell it triggers pain receptors in the brain. The specific receptors it triggers also happen to deal with pain in the face. Therefore, the brain interprets as if the pain was coming from our forehead, this is called "referred pain". How to get rid of it?From my research, there has yet to be a medically proven way to effectively get rid of a brain freeze. Although, I did find many remedies that may work and may not. I have chosen the two most common ways that people feel help the most. First method is to place your tongue on the roof of your mouth. This works for most people because when you eat something cold, your mouth tissue is the first thing to get cold. Your tongue, being a muscle, takes a lot longer to get cold so when you place it on the roof of your mouth it would transfer the heat quite fast. The second method I have found it quite common was something my Mom saw from Dr. Oz. He said for an unknown reason, if you take your thumb and push from the back of your two front teeth forward it drastically reduces the pain in your forehead. I believe that it does so because it stretches the tissues in the mouth and helps the vessels deflate. Citations:Article 1: Cherry, K. (2010, July 26). Why do you get brain freeze? [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/b/2010/07/26/why-do-you-get-brain-freeze.htmArticle 2:Herrick, J. (2011, September 22). How to stop brain freeze [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Brain-FreezePhoto: (2010). Brain freeze. (2010). [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://brumsey.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/brain-freeze-literally/ Pointless Post #1: The Cellular Respiration Song
Homework Post #2: The Black Plague The Bubonic Plague also known as the "Black Pague" is considered one of the most deadliest pandemics in our history. It first arrived in Europe in the mid-1300's and lasted roughly five years (leaving in the Winter but returning the following Spring). Throughout it's time in Europe it killed approximately 25 million people which was roughly one third of Europe's population at that time. Historians and scientists believe that the plague originated from bacteria found within/on fleas that travel on the skin of black rat's. These rats would then make contact with people and spread some fleas into the areas they visited. Once the fleas were in the area the humans could have either touched or inhaled them, thus getting one person sick. Once one person was sick, they could transmit the disease either by sneezing or coughing on another human. The disease rapidly spread from person to person killing each one in as little as a few hours. Once someone received the virus they would experience symptoms like shivering, vomiting, headaches, intolerance to light, back and limb pain, and a white coating on the tongue. After several hours/ days of having these symptoms a person would experience one of two things: One, they would develop black, blood filled swellings on the surface of their skin (along with some other unpleasant symptoms) and could later die of internal bleeding. Two, if the person inhaled the flea/ virus they are affected by something called the "pneumonic plague". This causes an infection to the lungs and is normally fatal.
Before we discuss the mysterious growl you need to first understand the human digestive system. In short, it is a direct pathway from your mouth to your bladder. It consists of things like your throat and intestines. In this pathway is food and liquid that we have consumed. In the stomach our food is broken down by mucus acid and turned into a “liquidy paste” called chyme.
Next thing you should know is that the process by which that food is pushed along the pathway is called peristalsis. This process uses waves of muscle contractions to push the chyme along. Moving with the chyme is a mixture of air and gas. As the chyme is pushed along the air and gas mixed within becomes released.
Now you may ask: “why doesn’t our stomach growl all the time then?” Well the answer to that is that the chyme within your system muffles the noise of it. That is why your stomach growls when you’re hungry; because when you’re hungry there is no chyme in your digestive system to muffle it!
Now you may also be asking: “why are the contractions happening if there is no chyme to move anyway?” The answer to that is that about two hours after your stomach has become empty your brain receives a message from the stomach that it is in fact empty. Once received, the brain then signals the digestive system to start (to clean up any missed chyme that could still be useful to the body).
So there you have it! The mysterious growl explained! Hope you enjoyed this short post and learned as much as I did!
Citations: Article 1:Toothman, J. Why does my stomach growl? [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/digestive/stomach-growling1.htmPhoto:(n.d.). Stomach grrrrrr. [Print Drawing]. Retrieved from http://minixkaren.blogspot.com/2010/04/stomach-grrrrrr.html Personal Post #4: Dr. Ralph Steinman and the Dendritic Cell Dr. Ralph Steinman was a Canadian professor who taught at Rockefeller University in New York. He taught numerous science courses with his main focus being immunology. In 1973, Steinman and a colleague of his discovered a class of immune cell responsible for controlling all other cells in the immune system. They called it a dendritic cell. After extensive research into these cells they came to the conclusion that the dendritic cells have a protein mechanism that could essentially sense when bacteria or other bad viruses were around. Once detected, the dendritic cells could send a message to the body to then activate its' immune system. Four years ago Steinman was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer so he begun running experimental treatment on himself. Steinman first came to the realization that in the case of cancer, the body does not recognize the infected cells as "bad", therefore it does not activate the immune system. He then found a way (currently still unknown to the public) to activate his own dendritic cells to attack the cancer cells in his body.
Using this method Steinman was able to stay alive for four years with his cancer, that is more than double the life expectancy for someone with this disease. Steinman was also the winner of a Nobel prize for his discovery, however he died just a few days before he was supposed to receive it. The rules of the Nobel prize state that it must be awarded to someone living, however since the committee decided on the winner before they were aware of his death they decided to make an exception and award him anyway.
Citations: Article 1: Nobel foundation rules deceased canadian scientist will remain nobel laureate [Web log message]. (2011, October 04). Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1063393Photo: Reuters. (Photographer). (2011). Retrieved from http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2011/10/05/169086-nobel-prize-for-medicine-winner-canadian-born-ralph-steinman-is-seen-h.jpg Personal Post #3: Tree Man (Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis) Recently I watched an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” where a patient they had was suffering from a disease that made him grow limbs that looked tree-like. I found this extremely weird and worthy of a wiki post.
The disease this man was suffering from is called epidermodysplasia verruciformis. It is an extreme form of HPV, in other words, it is the same material that is in a common wart or cold sore. When you get a cold sore, it’s your immune systems job to get rid of it. So if you imagine that you did not have an immune system, the HPV virus would begin to spread uncontrollably. Therefore, having a weak immune system by genetics is what causes a normal HPV infection to turn into epidermodysplasia verruciformis. This disease will normally start on the face and hands, then overtime spread about the skin in that area.
This disease is very, very rare. With only thirty reported cases of HPV being classified as epidermodysplasia verruciformis. Currently the most severe case is in an Indonesian man named Dede. He has been living with this disease for almost 20 years. He said it started when he was a teenager and had a cut in his knee. Soon enough, small warts began to form a round the cut and over time have developed into large “trunks” on both hands and feet (as seen in picture/ video).
The worst part about this terrible disease is that when the condition gets as bad as Dede’s, there is simply no way he will ever be normal again. Most doctors say now it is just too late to do anything, except for one. Dr. Gaspari of the United States is a dermatologist that believes he could help Dede. His theory is that if he gives Dede daily doses of vitamin A, and with surgical removing of the warts he may be able to better control the infection, improve Dede’s appearance, and give him the ability to move his hands. To date, they have only seen minor improvements in his appearance.
I also included a video of a short documentary about Dede and his condition.
Personal Post #2: Turkey = Tired? Ahhh! What an awesome Thanksgiving dinner I just had! My Mom decided to pick up a special thirty five pound turkey this year, which means lots of sleep for us tonight! Have you ever been curious as to why you get tired after a big turkey dinner? It is the amino acid; tryptophan! Tryptophan is needed for normal growth in infants and for nitrogen balance in adults. It is an essential amino acid, which means your body cannot produce it and you must get it from your diet. Common foods that contain tryptophan are: chicken, eggs, fish, milk, nuts, peanut butter, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soy, tofu, and turkey.
How does it work? The majority of the tryptophan we ingest is used in the creation of serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps the body regulate appetite, sleep patterns, and mood. Therefore, the more trpytophan we ingest, the better/ sleepier we feel. Medical Use: Sometime ago, doctors and scientists decided to use tryptophan as a form of medicine. Pills containing tryptophan have been used in the past to help treat problems like anxiety, depression, headaches, insomnia, nightmares, and OCD but have since been banned. In 1989, a breakout of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS), caused 1,500 permanent disability and 30+ deaths in the US. Scientists blamed the tryptophan supplements for the breakout which lead to their banning in 1991. Citations:Article 1: Vorvick, L. (2010, February 07). Tryptophan [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002332.htmArticle 2: The George Mateljan Foundation. (2001-2011). Tryptophan [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=103Photo: Chen, S. (Photographer). (2010). Retrieved from http://media.onsugar.com/files/2010/11/46/3/192/1922195/9045b29506d76521_turkey_sleepy.preview.jpg Personal Post #1: Hemispherectomy I don't know about you, but I could not believe that it was possible for someone to live with only half of their brain. I recently watched a program on television that talked about this and I figured it would make an excellent wiki post! Also, considering that I would like to become a neurosurgeon in the near future, I will definitely have to learn about this soon enough! I began to research it and found out that the procedure they use to do this is called a hemispherectomy. By definition, it is a rare neurosurgical procedure that is used when only half of a patients’ brain is defective. It is considered for people who have severe seizure disorders coming from one side of the brain, uni-hemispheric neurologic disorders, damage from viral or bacterial infections, damage from other sources (gunshot wounds, etc.), or some children with tuberous sclerosis. You can see a list of the uni-hemispheric disorders here: http://hemifoundation.intuitwebsites.com/facts.html To my disbelief, surgeries this complex have been performed for quite sometime. It was first performed on a human in 1923 and was later advanced in the 1960's, '70's and '80's. The most famous hemispherectomy performed to date was by Dr. Ben Carson (my hero) at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. He endured a twenty two hour operation, managing to separate Siamese twins joined at the head. This operation was the first to be successful for both patients (who managed to grow up and live with only half of a brain each). Doctors say that a hemispherectomy can be performed on anyone, no matter their age. However, if you look at the data, the chance of complications/ death is quite high in older (20+) patients. Ideally this procedure should be performed on patients fourteen or younger. This is because the less developed the brain is at the time of surgery, the better chance there is that the half left intact will take over functions of the removed half. As far as specifics of the procedure, I am not going to try and explain it (as I am not yet a neurosurgeon). But if that does interest you, here is a link to a certified neurosurgeon explaining how exactly they do it: http://www.5min.com/Video/How-Hemispherectomy-Works-326753712 Citations: Article 1: CHASA. Hemispherectomy [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.chasa.org/hemispherectomy.htmArticle 2: Salter. (1998, January 31). This is brain surgery [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/13/brainsurgery.html Article 3: Hemispherectomy Angels, Inc. (2009). Facts about hemispherectomy [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://hemifoundation.intuitwebsites.com/facts.htmlPhoto: Living Art Enterprises, LLC. (Producer). (n.d.). Mri shows near total hemispherectomy. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/278561/530wm/M5660247-MRI_shows_near_total_hemispherectomy-SPL.jpg
Homework Post #1: A Cure for Blindness!?!? In my research to find a topic about cells I tried to stay away from articles about the infamous “Stem Cell”. I have heard and worked on so many things involving this I am getting tired of it now, despite how fascinating it is. However, when researching I came across this article:http://www.nature.com/stemcells/2009/0906/090611/full/stemcells.2009.82.html
It is titled “The Cell that Might Save Sight”; this caught my attention right away. Every time I ever read about stem cells it was either about them working to replace major organs, skin, or in some cases limbs. I have never thought that they would be able to re-build something as complexas a human eye. But to my disbelief, studies on this have been going on for quite sometime now. Doctors say that it is best to test stem cells on eyes because they are: easily accessible, somewhat protected from the immune system, and that they come in a pair so doctors can perform on one and have another to refer back to. The article states that the reason for this experimentation is purely based on numbers. According to this article, in June of 2009, 37 million people worldwide were blind and 124 million had bad vision.
Reading this article I discovered that a few years ago this was very open research, no one really knew exactly how to properly go about restoring vision with stem cells. However, since then, I researched that they have had an abundance of success with this treatment. I read that they now have confirmed that they are able to fully restore vision in a blind person and they can normally improve sight in someone with poor vision.
They do this, not by growing an entirely new eye but by regenerating the cornea and/or retina. It was first done a group of Italian researchers who have had much success since then and have shared their work with the rest of the world. (as seen in this article: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/news/20100623/stem-cell-treatment-restores-vision)
The image to the right is of two different patients; both endured chemical burns in their eyes and were declared legally blind from their doctors. However, using corneas grown from their stem cells, the doctors have successfully transplanted them and allowed the patients to regain their vision.
Personal Post #10: Disinfecting Crystals (Spin-off Post)
Because the book did not state exactly what type of crystals they used, I had to take a guess and assume they used the most common type of disinfecting crystals, iodine crystals (seen to the right). However, in the book, they described the crystals to be small, white crystals that resembled salt. For this reason, I think it may have been chlorine crystals which are illegal. I did find its structure (seen below). Chlorine gas is what was used in the first world war, but since the decon team were military, they could have been able to get ahold of some. Regardless, both elements are halogens and therefore act the same way, chlorine is just more toxic.
As my chemistry teacher always says, everything in chemistry is about concentration. This meaning, normally, these crystals are not bad for us at all, let alone deadly. In fact, these crystals are used for a lot of good; they are a very popular water purifier and it is often fed to farm animals to maintain good nutrition.
Because these crystals have the potential to do so much damage, yet they have positive benefits as well, governments are really controversial when it comes to the sale of them. The biggest reason they regulate the sale is because iodine crystals can be converted or used in the production of methamphetamine, as well as its life threatening gas form.
I can confidently say I have fulfilled my curiosity within this post. I am now educated on the use of lethal gas for beneficial purposes and I hope all of you readers are as well.
Citations:Article 1: Advameg Inc. (2012). Iodine. Retrieved from http://www.chemistryexplained.com/elements/C-K/Iodine.htmlPhoto 1: (n.d.). Iodine crystals. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.alternativevet.org/images/Iodine crystals [Iodum].jpgPhoto 2: (n.d.). Crystal structure image. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.webelements.com/_media/elements/crystal_structure_image/Cl-sf.jpg
Personal Post #9: Necrotizing Fasciitis
Symptoms?Necrotizing fasciitis can start from a small cut or it may follow up a diseases such as chickenpox. It begins as a small rash around the original cut and soon expands and begins to devour all the flesh around it leaving nothing but the underlying muscle. If not treated properly, it can cause death within 18 hours from the time of infection.
How it works?This disease is caused by group A streptococcus bacteria. Surprisingly, these bacteria are found in the nose, throat and on the skin of healthy people. Although in most cases they are good for us, these bacteria can cause numerous infections, one of which being necrotizing fasciitis. Scientists do not know why these bacteria sometimes "go bad" and create flesh eating toxins, but they do on very rare occasions.
SpreadingOnce these bacteria have begun to create the flesh eating toxins they are able to spread from person to person. Normally it is from close, personal contact with an infected being.
Because this disease is a bacterial infection, antibiotics are usually the first method. However, necrotizing fasciitis normally will cut off the blood supply to the infected area, so the antibiotics that are in the blood stream will sometimes not make it to the infected area. Therefore, doctors often resort to surgery to remove all of the infected tissue.
PreventionThe best way to prevent yourself from getting this rare disease is to never neglect a tiny cut. Always ensure any open flesh wounds are properly covered so you can prevent any bacteria from getting in. Also, if you notice any necrotizing fasciitis symptoms, be sure to see a doctor right away because like I said, this infection travels throughout the body very, very quickly.
Citations:Article: HealthLink BC. (2012, February). Necrotizing fasciitis. Retrieved from http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile60.stmPhoto 1: (n.d.). face. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://microbiology2009.wikispaces.com/file/view/face.jpgPhoto 2: (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.webanswers.com/post-images/A/AF/260D5141-D2AE-4CC8-AA1CF2E1E7F8FBDA.jpg
Homework Post #7: The Hot Zone | Part Four
In the final section of this book, Preston stops talking about what had happened with the outbreak, and begins talking about his personal trip to learn more about it. Preston and his colleagues traveled to Kitum Cave, ground zero for the Ebola outbreak. Although Preston is not a scientist, he approached the cave as if he was. He took all the necessary gear and began to explore the cave for signs of life and possible Ebola carriers. Once Preston had seen enough and had recorded his thoughts about the cave, he wanted to compare the life there, to the now "Ebola free" Reston building. Preston traveled to the factory and learned that the building was for sale and had yet to get a new owner. He was able to look into the windows and get a feel for the place. He was able to see small insects and other signs of life which, I personally was surprised to read, but Preston thought differently. Finally, Preston states that he believed the virus would be back. With all the life he saw in Kitum Cave and the Reston building, he stated it was almost inevitable to happen.
As I said above, the most surprising part for me in this section was the fact that he had found life in the Reston building. Thinking about it now, I don't recall Preston saying anything about the clean up team removing any of the tape around the windows or doors, which leads me to wonder how any life could have made its way into the building. I also don't understand why Preston was so sure there would be a outbreak coming from the Reston building because the clean up team did such an amazing job and they were able to kill of the bacteria cultures. I mean, they wouldn't have deemed it Ebola free if they weren't one hundred percent sure about it. For that reason, I disagree with Preston for saying that there would be any Ebola coming from Reston, however, there most certainly is Ebola in Kitum Cave.
Citations: None.
Personal Post #8: Capsule Colonoscopy
With today's science, doctors and scientists have developed a "colonoscopy capsule". The capsule is about 20mm in length (seen to the right), that has a clear end with a camera facing out, and a small harddrive on the other end. The patient will swallow the capsule with no discomfort at all and allow the capsule to travel through their bowel and out of their body in their feces. As the capsule makes it's way through the body, it will take a video which doctors will be able to transfer onto a computer for viewing an examination of the bowel and colon.
I did this post because I thought it was extremely neat and a very cool, technologically advanced procedure in the medical field. To the right I have included an actual video that was captured from a colonoscopy capsule.
Citations:Article 1: Sisk, J. (2012). Colonoscopy. Retrieved from http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/Ce-Fi/Colonoscopy.htmlCitation 2: Conversation with my mom (Karyn), January 15, 2012.
Photo: (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.jiaps.com/articles/2010/15/3/images/JIndianAssocPediatrSurg_2010_15_3_101_71755_u5.jpg
Personal Post #7: Singultus
Hiccups can be caused by an abundance of things which include:
These are just a few of many different ways you can get hiccups. However, the most common reason you get hiccups, is ironically no reason at all. Many people will simply get hiccups because of a twitch that emerges in the diaphragm muscles and continues. This twitch, or contraction causes air to be sucked into our lungs extremely fast which causes the "hic" sound, and then when the muscles relax we release air, thus causing the "cup" noise.
Hiccups can be very annoying, so overtime we have developed methods that seem to work in getting rid of them. A few of them are listed below:
These methods are all just placebos. They are not actually doing anything to relax the diaphragm muscles, but they do distract your mind from thinking about them which causes your diaphragm muscles to relax and stop your hiccuping.
Citations:
Article 1: Why do you hiccup?. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.essortment.com/hiccup-62473.html
Photo: (2010). Retrieved from http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/04/article-1317502-0B76AAEA000005DC-873_468x489.jpg
Homework Post #6: The Hot Zone | Part Three
The third section of this book continues talking about the Reston situation. It begins with Jerry Jaax and his team getting word of the Reston outbreak and them packing up and heading to Washington. When they arrive in Reston they set up all their gear and begin to create a game plan on how they want to go about neutralizing all the monkeys. The leaders decided that they would give each monkey a needle that would put them to sleep, then extract blood and perform some tests, and then would finish up by giving each monkey a lethal injection that would kill them.
The operation had to be done quickly and they had to be sure to not draw any media attention. The task was completed perfectly. Jerry Jaax and his team entered the building early one morning, suited up in their space suits, and got the job done in a matter of hours. All the dead monkeys' were sterilized, bagged, sterilized, bagged, and then sterilized again. They were now able to bring each of the monkey's out to be incinerated and the clean up team was able to move in.
The clean up team did an amazing job as well. They entered the building and began spraying disinfectants on anything and everything they could. They had people scrubbing every surface in the building until there was no blood to be found. They finished off by sealing off all openings and setting up hot plates. On each hot plate they placed a crystal. When they gave power to the building, the crystals cooked and released a gas into the now air-tight building. They allowed the gas to sit in the building for three days as it got into every "nook and cranny" in the building. Within the building, the team had placed cultures of microorganisms that were apparently extremely hard to kill. After the three days the team went in and observed that the microorganisms had all been killed, therefore they concluded that there was no possible way that the Ebola virus could still be present within the building. The building had been determined safe for human life again.
The coolest part out of this section to me was by far the sterilization process. I found it extremely ingenious the way they went about it and it was a joy to read. I was intrigued specifically with the hot plate and crystal method as well as the way they made the building air tight.
Citations: None.
Homework Post #5: The Hot Zone | Part Two
The second part to this book is titled "The Monkey House". By reading this it is clear that this section is in fact about monkeys; more specifically, a monkey storage/ shipping facility located in Reston, Virginia. At this location, monkeys' are imported from outside of the country and then shipped across the United States to different laboratories. Everything seemed to run smoothly until Dan Dalgard, a worker at the facility, notices that some of the monkeys' are beginning to show abnormal behavior. Worried it might be something serious, Dalgard ships a portion of monkey meat to a military lab for research. He was right; it was something worse, a virus (later named "The Reston Virus"). Before retrieving these results, Dalgard and his coworkers saw the effects this virus was having on these monkeys' first hand. Monkeys' were dying as the days went on and the company was losing too much money. When the military had concluded it was a virus causing the deaths, they injected there scientists into the facility and the company owners were happy to welcome them in. Everyone wanted to find out where this virus had came from, including the Pentagon. From here, the book failed to conclude what actually became of this virus, was it contained and eliminated? Did it spread, killing more monkeys' worldwide? These are questions it did not answer.
As most of my other classmates have pointed out, the most surprising, yet confusing part of this section was when it randomly talked about Jerry Jaax (character introduced earlier in the book) brother's death for three pages. I have no personal explanation for why the author might have done this. It was completely random and I would be very interested to know what the author put it there for. It would make sense had his brother been introduced earlier or maybe if his brother had some other connection to the topics in this story; but he didn't, which leaves me questioning.
Citations: None.
Homework Post #4: The Hot Zone | Part One
Monet arrives at the hospital in rough shape, but still alive. Shortly after waiting in the waiting room the virus climaxes and Monet bleeds out on the floor. Dr. Musoke was the first on the scene and in an attempt to save Monet's life, Musoke contracted the virus. He experienced all the same symptoms Monet did; the difference being that Musoke managed to live.
After elaborating more about Ebola and Marburg, Preston begins telling the story about Major Nancy Jaax. Jaax and her husband work for the military in a level 4 biohazard veterinarian lab. Preston explains the story of how Jaax nearly contracted the virus while working in the lab.
Next, Preston talks how a man named Gene Johnson and his team visited the same cave in which Monet contracted the virus in hopes of finding the virus in its natural habitat. They tested a number of animals but sadly could not find any strains of the virus.
The biggest "woah" moment I had when reading this section was when Preston went into great detail about the vomito negro incident on the plane and the climax of the virus within Monet in the hospital. I am not a big reader at all but when reading those parts I was literally "on the edge of my seat". I found the inner workings of the virus and the effects on the body both extremely interesting and very shocking.
Citations:Photo: (n.d.). Hotzone. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://amateurbrilliance.com/pictures/hotzone.gif
Homework Post #3: Stem Cell Research Personal Opinion
Before you read this I would like you to know I am not intending to offend anyone with the following information. These are just my personal beliefs having been raised by a doctor and wanting to go into the medical field myself.
In my opinion I think it is quite ridiculous that someone would rather have their already extracted zygotes thrown out. Because they are being killed anyway, why not put them to use? It's as simple as that to me. If we were able to use these zygotes we would most likely be able to supply enough stem cells for research that we would not need to use any other methods. In a sense its like "killing two birds with one stone"; donors get to see their precious zygotes being put to good use and researchers don't have to do much work to get the stem cells that they need to research.
Even with all the laws we have in place currently involving stem cells, we have still managed to discover and learn so much about them. If I'm not mistaken, researchers already have all the information and tools to cure many diseases. I think that knowing that, governments are out of their mind to not raise the bans on stem cells and allow their citizens to begin receiving these life changing treatments.
Government money should be used in moderation to fund stem cell research. Despite the fact that some people will disagree with this, I feel a lot more good will come of it than bad. The full potential of stem cells is still unknown, but even with the little knowledge we have about them, we already know that the possibilities they have are incredible. For example, if someone was waiting on a giant list for a kidney transplant, instead of waiting for years and years, we would be able to grow a new kidney and insert it in the patient. I think if a prime minister was willing to do that for all people needing transplants and other medical procedures that he would get majority of the votes because that offer would make so many people happy.
As far as government regulation, I don't have much of an opinion. I feel that as long as the people that need to be cured are, thats all that matters. I the government wants to put bans and limits on things that would most likely result in people being deprived of treatment which I disagree with. Obviously things like: professionals only can handle them, licenses required to preform procedures, etc. are all things that I think should be put in place because it would just be stupid to let the public have free use of stem cells. If that were to happen their would be clones running around every where and that is definitely not a good thing. In conclusion, their are many obvious rules that should be in place but I disagree with having limits on different things regarding stem cells.
If stem cell research are transplants were allowed, I think the use of adult stem cells should be limited. Adult stem cells should only be used if needed. For example, if someone were in need of a transplant, we should be allowed to take the adult stem cells to create that specific organ. But if someone wanted a body part made, but did not actually need it, they should have to pay a price to the government for the embryonic stem cells and they would have to donate the adult stem cells.
As mentioned above, therapeutic cloning is currently the most useful method of using stem cells. That is basically what all doctors want to be allowed to do. Because we already know how to do it, that is the one major ban we want lifted: the use of stem cells to create organs, tissues, etc.
Citations: Ryan Buyting
Personal Post #6: Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia
What is it?
Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia or better known as a "brain freeze", is something we have most likely all experienced. It is that sharp, painful feeling we get in our forehead when we eat or drink something cold. In greater detail, a brain freeze occurs when the tissues at the "roof" of our mouthes quickly drop in temperature. When this happens, the blood vessels in those tissues swell up in an effort to warm that area back up to a regular temperature, when the vessels swell it triggers pain receptors in the brain. The specific receptors it triggers also happen to deal with pain in the face. Therefore, the brain interprets as if the pain was coming from our forehead, this is called "referred pain".
How to get rid of it?From my research, there has yet to be a medically proven way to effectively get rid of a brain freeze. Although, I did find many remedies that may work and may not. I have chosen the two most common ways that people feel help the most. First method is to place your tongue on the roof of your mouth. This works for most people because when you eat something cold, your mouth tissue is the first thing to get cold. Your tongue, being a muscle, takes a lot longer to get cold so when you place it on the roof of your mouth it would transfer the heat quite fast.
The second method I have found it quite common was something my Mom saw from Dr. Oz. He said for an unknown reason, if you take your thumb and push from the back of your two front teeth forward it drastically reduces the pain in your forehead. I believe that it does so because it stretches the tissues in the mouth and helps the vessels deflate.
Citations:Article 1: Cherry, K. (2010, July 26). Why do you get brain freeze? [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/b/2010/07/26/why-do-you-get-brain-freeze.htmArticle 2: Herrick, J. (2011, September 22). How to stop brain freeze [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Brain-FreezePhoto: (2010). Brain freeze. (2010). [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from http://brumsey.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/brain-freeze-literally/
Pointless Post #1: The Cellular Respiration Song
Homework Post #2: The Black Plague
Historians and scientists believe that the plague originated from bacteria found within/on fleas that travel on the skin of black rat's. These rats would then make contact with people and spread some fleas into the areas they visited. Once the fleas were in the area the humans could have either touched or inhaled them, thus getting one person sick. Once one person was sick, they could transmit the disease either by sneezing or coughing on another human. The disease rapidly spread from person to person killing each one in as little as a few hours.
Once someone received the virus they would experience symptoms like shivering, vomiting, headaches, intolerance to light, back and limb pain, and a white coating on the tongue. After several hours/ days of having these symptoms a person would experience one of two things: One, they would develop black, blood filled swellings on the surface of their skin (along with some other unpleasant symptoms) and could later die of internal bleeding. Two, if the person inhaled the flea/ virus they are affected by something called the "pneumonic plague". This causes an infection to the lungs and is normally fatal.
Citations:
Article 1: Nilsen, R. (2011, March 09). A list of epidemic diseases [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/23058-list-epidemic-diseases/Article 2: Gale, T. (2005-2006). Bubonic plague [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.bookrags.com/research/bubonic-plague-wsd/Photo: (n.d.). Retrieved from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Bubonic_plague_map_2.png
Personal Post #5: The Mysterious Growl!
I was lying on the couch today doing homework and my stomach all of a sudden let out a loud growl. As weird as it may seem the first thought to my head was: “wikipost”! So here we go!
Before we discuss the mysterious growl you need to first understand the human digestive system. In short, it is a direct pathway from your mouth to your bladder. It consists of things like your throat and intestines. In this pathway is food and liquid that we have consumed. In the stomach our food is broken down by mucus acid and turned into a “liquidy paste” called chyme.
Next thing you should know is that the process by which that food is pushed along the pathway is called peristalsis. This process uses waves of muscle contractions to push the chyme along. Moving with the chyme is a mixture of air and gas. As the chyme is pushed along the air and gas mixed within becomes released.
Now you may ask: “why doesn’t our stomach growl all the time then?” Well the answer to that is that the chyme within your system muffles the noise of it. That is why your stomach growls when you’re hungry; because when you’re hungry there is no chyme in your digestive system to muffle it!
Now you may also be asking: “why are the contractions happening if there is no chyme to move anyway?” The answer to that is that about two hours after your stomach has become empty your brain receives a message from the stomach that it is in fact empty. Once received, the brain then signals the digestive system to start (to clean up any missed chyme that could still be useful to the body).
So there you have it! The mysterious growl explained! Hope you enjoyed this short post and learned as much as I did!
Citations:
Article 1: Toothman, J. Why does my stomach growl? [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/digestive/stomach-growling1.htm Photo: (n.d.). Stomach grrrrrr. [Print Drawing]. Retrieved from http://minixkaren.blogspot.com/2010/04/stomach-grrrrrr.html
Personal Post #4: Dr. Ralph Steinman and the Dendritic Cell
Four years ago Steinman was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer so he begun running experimental treatment on himself. Steinman first came to the realization that in the case of cancer, the body does not recognize the infected cells as "bad", therefore it does not activate the immune system. He then found a way (currently still unknown to the public) to activate his own dendritic cells to attack the cancer cells in his body.
Using this method Steinman was able to stay alive for four years with his cancer, that is more than double the life expectancy for someone with this disease. Steinman was also the winner of a Nobel prize for his discovery, however he died just a few days before he was supposed to receive it. The rules of the Nobel prize state that it must be awarded to someone living, however since the committee decided on the winner before they were aware of his death they decided to make an exception and award him anyway.
Citations:
Article 1: Nobel foundation rules deceased canadian scientist will remain nobel laureate [Web log message]. (2011, October 04). Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1063393Photo: Reuters. (Photographer). (2011). Retrieved from http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/images/full/2011/10/05/169086-nobel-prize-for-medicine-winner-canadian-born-ralph-steinman-is-seen-h.jpg
Personal Post #3: Tree Man (Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis)
Recently I watched an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” where a patient they had was suffering from a disease that made him grow limbs that looked tree-like. I found this extremely weird and worthy of a wiki post.
The disease this man was suffering from is called epidermodysplasia verruciformis. It is an extreme form of HPV, in other words, it is the same material that is in a common wart or cold sore. When you get a cold sore, it’s your immune systems job to get rid of it. So if you imagine that you did not have an immune system, the HPV virus would begin to spread uncontrollably. Therefore, having a weak immune system by genetics is what causes a normal HPV infection to turn into epidermodysplasia verruciformis. This disease will normally start on the face and hands, then overtime spread about the skin in that area.
This disease is very, very rare. With only thirty reported cases of HPV being classified as epidermodysplasia verruciformis. Currently the most severe case is in an Indonesian man named Dede. He has been living with this disease for almost 20 years. He said it started when he was a teenager and had a cut in his knee. Soon enough, small warts began to form a round the cut and over time have developed into large “trunks” on both hands and feet (as seen in picture/ video).
The worst part about this terrible disease is that when the condition gets as bad as Dede’s, there is simply no way he will ever be normal again. Most doctors say now it is just too late to do anything, except for one. Dr. Gaspari of the United States is a dermatologist that believes he could help Dede. His theory is that if he gives Dede daily doses of vitamin A, and with surgical removing of the warts he may be able to better control the infection, improve Dede’s appearance, and give him the ability to move his hands. To date, they have only seen minor improvements in his appearance.
I also included a video of a short documentary about Dede and his condition.
Citations:
Article 1: Kao, G. (2009, December 16). Epidermodysplasia verruciformis [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1131981-overviewPhoto: http://www.geekologie.com/2008/04/16/tree-man-2.jpg (unable to find photographer info.)Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtl9gN0gTvs
Personal Post #2: Turkey = Tired?
Tryptophan is needed for normal growth in infants and for nitrogen balance in adults. It is an essential amino acid, which means your body cannot produce it and you must get it from your diet. Common foods that contain tryptophan are: chicken, eggs, fish, milk, nuts, peanut butter, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soy, tofu, and turkey.
How does it work? The majority of the tryptophan we ingest is used in the creation of serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps the body regulate appetite, sleep patterns, and mood. Therefore, the more trpytophan we ingest, the better/ sleepier we feel.
Medical Use: Sometime ago, doctors and scientists decided to use tryptophan as a form of medicine. Pills containing tryptophan have been used in the past to help treat problems like anxiety, depression, headaches, insomnia, nightmares, and OCD but have since been banned. In 1989, a breakout of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS), caused 1,500 permanent disability and 30+ deaths in the US. Scientists blamed the tryptophan supplements for the breakout which lead to their banning in 1991.
Citations: Article 1: Vorvick, L. (2010, February 07). Tryptophan [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002332.htmArticle 2: The George Mateljan Foundation. (2001-2011). Tryptophan [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=103Photo: Chen, S. (Photographer). (2010). Retrieved from http://media.onsugar.com/files/2010/11/46/3/192/1922195/9045b29506d76521_turkey_sleepy.preview.jpg
Personal Post #1: Hemispherectomy
I don't know about you, but I could not believe that it was possible for someone to live with only half of their brain. I recently watched a program on television that talked about this and I figured it would make an excellent wiki post! Also, considering that I would like to become a neurosurgeon in the near future, I will definitely have to learn about this soon enough!
To my disbelief, surgeries this complex have been performed for quite sometime. It was first performed on a human in 1923 and was later advanced in the 1960's, '70's and '80's. The most famous hemispherectomy performed to date was by Dr. Ben Carson (my hero) at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. He endured a twenty two hour operation, managing to separate Siamese twins joined at the head. This operation was the first to be successful for both patients (who managed to grow up and live with only half of a brain each).
Doctors say that a hemispherectomy can be performed on anyone, no matter their age. However, if you look at the data, the chance of complications/ death is quite high in older (20+) patients. Ideally this procedure should be performed on patients fourteen or younger. This is because the less developed the brain is at the time of surgery, the better chance there is that the half left intact will take over functions of the removed half.
As far as specifics of the procedure, I am not going to try and explain it (as I am not yet a neurosurgeon). But if that does interest you, here is a link to a certified neurosurgeon explaining how exactly they do it: http://www.5min.com/Video/How-Hemispherectomy-Works-326753712
Citations:
Article 1: CHASA. Hemispherectomy [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.chasa.org/hemispherectomy.htm Article 2: Salter. (1998, January 31). This is brain surgery [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/13/brainsurgery.html
Article 3: Hemispherectomy Angels, Inc. (2009). Facts about hemispherectomy [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://hemifoundation.intuitwebsites.com/facts.html Photo: Living Art Enterprises, LLC. (Producer). (n.d.). Mri shows near total hemispherectomy. [Print Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/278561/530wm/M5660247-MRI_shows_near_total_hemispherectomy-SPL.jpg
Homework Post #1: A Cure for Blindness!?!?
In my research to find a topic about cells I tried to stay away from articles about the infamous “Stem Cell”. I have heard and worked on so many things involving this I am getting tired of it now, despite how fascinating it is. However, when researching I came across this article:http://www.nature.com/stemcells/2009/0906/090611/full/stemcells.2009.82.html
It is titled “The Cell that Might Save Sight”; this caught my attention right away. Every time I ever read about stem cells it was either about them working to replace major organs, skin, or in some cases limbs. I have never thought that they would be able to re-build something as complexas a human eye. But to my disbelief, studies on this have been going on for quite sometime now. Doctors say that it is best to test stem cells on eyes because they are: easily accessible, somewhat protected from the immune system, and that they come in a pair so doctors can perform on one and have another to refer back to. The article states that the reason for this experimentation is purely based on numbers. According to this article, in June of 2009, 37 million people worldwide were blind and 124 million had bad vision.
Reading this article I discovered that a few years ago this was very open research, no one really knew exactly how to properly go about restoring vision with stem cells. However, since then, I researched that they have had an abundance of success with this treatment. I read that they now have confirmed that they are able to fully restore vision in a blind person and they can normally improve sight in someone with poor vision.
They do this, not by growing an entirely new eye but by regenerating the cornea and/or retina. It was first done a group of Italian researchers who have had much success since then and have shared their work with the rest of the world. (as seen in this article: http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/news/20100623/stem-cell-treatment-restores-vision)
The image to the right is of two different patients; both endured chemical burns in their eyes and were declared legally blind from their doctors. However, using corneas grown from their stem cells, the doctors have successfully transplanted them and allowed the patients to regain their vision.
Citations:
Photo: A, P. (Producer). (n.d.). B cultures plus keratoplasty. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01665/stem-cell_1665951c.jpg
Article 1: Dance, A. (2009, June 11). The cell that might save sight [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/stemcells/2009/0906/090611/full/stemcells.2009.82.html
Article 2: Boyles, S. (2010). Stem cell treatment restores vision [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/news/20100623/stem-cell-treatment-restores-vision